The season so far: EPL review part 3
With the EPL season
starting to gather pace and the transfer window now closed, let’s have a quick
look at the teams taking part and how they’ve started the new season.
Manchester United
It was always going to
be hard when Sir Alex Ferguson finally retired, but the amount of difficulties
United have faced is astounding for a club of their stature.
Failed transfer deals
for a large number of targets have weakened the club and the position of new
manager David Moyes, as well as a poor return of four points in three games.
The signing of
Marouane Fellaini on deadline day improved the squad, but rivals like Arsenal
and Man City have stolen a march on their rivals with more inventive transfer
deals.
With only three games
played, it’s too early for United fans to worry and two of their games were
against upper-tier opposition. Yet again, the new manager needs time to get his
ideas across to the squad, but at United, you also need to get results.
Newcastle United
Toon manager Alan
Pardew is caught between a rock and a hard place. Almost a victim of his own
success, he too has found his position at the club weakened due to the
implementation of Joe Kinnear as director of football at the club.
The club failed to
invest properly in new personnel whilst letting go of squad players, weakening
the team even more. A win against Fulham was enough to ease the pressure
building, but it looks like it may be a torrid season if injuries grip the
threadbare squad.
Loic Remy will score
goals for the club, but he will need to be in good form to help Newcastle avoid
a relegation dogfight.
Norwich City
The Canaries have
started the season well enough, gathering points at a steady rate. Chris
Hughton’s squad will be aiming to improve on their comfortable mid-table finish
last season and currently lie 11th in the league.
The £8.5m purchase of
striker Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and the £5m fee paid for Gary Hooper have boosted
their attack and may cause the team to abandon the defensive style that served
them so well last season, as they push for more goals.
Currently ninth in the
league, results have been average so far for the Canaries, but by no means have
they started poorly.
Southampton
Southampton recorded
some impressive results last season, including beating Man City 3-1, Liverpool
3-1 and Chelsea 2-1 as they avoided relegation by just five points.
Newly promoted England
striker Rickie Lambert is expected to get goals for the club and he opened his
account for the season with a penalty against West Brom in the 90th
minute. However, he will be assisted this term by £15m Italy forward Pablo
Osvaldo, signed from Roma.
The Saints have
collected four points in their travels so far, with their solitary win coming
against West Brom in their season opener.
Stoke City
The Potters said
goodbye to long-term manager Tony Pulis at the end of last season, who was
replaced by former Man City manager Mark Hughes. Two wins out of three so far
in the league is promising form and they currently sit above both Man Utd and
Tottenham.
Stoke’s strong back
line has been reinforced by £3m signing Erik
Pieters, who has started all three league games this season, whilst Stephan
Ireland has been brought in on loan to give the Potters more creativity going
forward.
Continue to PART FOURHERE:
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